LoC Game Rules
If you're unsure of what LoC is about, refer to the Introductions page before reading this page. This page is a central repository for all the general game rules, guidelines, and specific gameplay mechanics (Power Points, Combat, Domains, etc) that defines how the game is run. As such, refer to an individual mechanics section for more information. Power Points Power Points (PP) represent a gods power in the world. It is a metagame concept used to try to make things fair; not everyone has a lot of time to invest in the game, but by restricting everyone's Actions by Power Points, it allows for participants with less time to still significantly influence the world. All actions require a certain amount of PP to perform. So how does one obtain PP? Every god that begins the game starts out with 8pp on the first week-- this value decreases to 5pp after the next reset. They spend these on actions. Occasionally, the Administrators will note that there has been a reset and they will tell players how many more PP they have (base PP can vary). At reset, any additional sources of PP generation (if any exist) are reset, so they can be used again as well (see Artifacts and Exarches for more information). When do resets occur? Usually every week, around Sunday. This isn't a dead-set time, however. Sometimes the reset might come sooner, if the Admins feel that a reset is needed earlier. Maybe later, for a similar reason. But usually you can expect it on a Sunday. 5PP might not seem like much at first, especially when there are actions that cost 4PP to perform. However, there are two considerations in this regard. First, PP may be carried over from one turn to the next, but only if they were previously dedicated to a specific action. Additionally, it is possible to increase the base PP that one receives each turn. This is covered in detail below. It is encouraged that participants attempt to post at least once every other day. Participants who appear only once a week (or less often) to spend their PP and then disappear again for several days may not be considered “active” and as such may not be given new PP every reset. If extreme enough, such individuals may also be asked to leave the game. This doesn't mean you have to spend PP every day, just interact with the world and help us develop the setting. Where PP Comes From This might seem like an odd topic, but it is worth while to establish where PP come from, in terms of the setting. Power Points reflect a god's power, the energy they use to perform actions. This is in contrast to a participant's power. Sometimes a participant might want to do something that would actually go against the nature of their god. Unfortunately, in those instances the player can't just say that the action happened despite what their god would have done. If one can find a clever way to roleplay the matter so that the god would perform that action, then it is quite acceptable, but PP comes from a god, not the player, so one must roleplay the use of PP accordingly. How to gain additional PP Every god starts with a base PP level of 5. This may be increased through several ways, listed below. The quickest way to get more PP is to keep updating the wikia with your God's actions! *+1 Keeping the wikia up-to-date regarding the players/gods actions. *+1 For good roleplaying. This is assigned at the discretion of Admins and will usually fluctuate week to week. There may be a couple more methods of increasing your base PP, so come back to this wiki often! At various point cutoffs (yet to be determined), the amount of base PP you recieve per week will increase. Carrying over PP There may be times when a certain situation calls for large actions to be accomplished or a god can't dedicate enough power towards a certain action. When this occurs, players have the option of carrying over their PP from one week to the next week. There are a couple of things that players need to know about carrying over PP: *The player must take note on how much PP is being carried over to the next turn *The player must specify wich action, or actions, the extra PP is dedicated towards There's no limit to how much PP can be carried over, but keep in mind that if a player does end up carrying over PP that it must be spent during that week at some point; otherwise, they will lose that extra PP upon the next reset. Unless special conditions are met or it is discussed to the admins prior, players cannot carry over the same PP more than once-- that is, players cannot take the PP they carried over from the last reset and carry it on unused over the course of a few turns. The Gods Gods are the primary characters of the participants. They represent fundamental concepts and elements of the world, which are called "domains" (such as Earth or War). They do this through the use of roleplaying and "Actions". Gods create the universe and interact with each other to produce an interesting, playable setting for a table-top roleplaying game. Every god should have its own Wikia page, which should be kept vaguely up-to-date by the controlling participant. When a participant enters the game, they will most likely be taking the role of a newly created god. As a god is often defined by their portfolio (those "domains" or aspects of the universe that they represent and care for), it can often be useful to consider what sort of god one will be controlling before one enters the game. Usually, the individual might determine their starting domains themselves, though in rare cases they may have their domains chosen for them if one is already taken or if one doesn't seem to fit their character well. After that, a god is largely free to go about the world creating things and developing the setting. If a god was created by a preexisting god, usually he/she/it will owe semi-allegiance to the god (or gods) that created him/her/it, and possibly be related to any existing pantheon that the creating god was a part of. Gods may change pantheons and ignore who they owe fealty to, but these serve to form a basic relationship structure between the gods and can help guide roleplaying interactions. While an older god will generally be more powerful because he/she/it has had more time to create mortals, creatures, artifacts, servants, planes, etc in the world and form alliances with other players, the game is designed so that even new gods can challenge the old ones with a bit of cunning and teamwork. Gods and Mortals Gods inherently exist on a different level than most mortals. Dumb beasts might be able to perceive a god, but a thinking-race like elves or ponies cannot perceive the raw essence of the divine. Gods can influence mortals through Actions, but a god cannot easily sit down and chat with random mortals. Gods can create Avatars, however, for that purpose, or use Exarchs as intermediaries. Gods can interact with the material world, which mortals might interpret through cloud reading or the likes, or they can send dreams, but again, gods cannot interact directly with mortals. Omni-Not In LoC, Gods are not: *'omnipotent' - they are restricted by Actions and Power Points. *'omniscient' - they only know that which they have directly experienced, perceived, or have been informed of. A god might have a vast intelligence gathering network, but they still don't know everything that is going on in the game. *'omnipresent' - they tend to be restricted to being in only one place at a time. Gods can still send messages across the world to each other, and if there is a good RP reason they can be in more than one places at a time, but generally if a participant wants to be involved in more than one location, that is what exarchs, heroes, and avatars are for. Actions The following is a list of actions that a god may take to shape the world, which requires the expenditure of PP. This list also offers an very brief explanation of the effects of those actions. In each case participants must be specific, such as outlining the uses/powers of an artifact. Posting a full statblock is ideal, but at the very least participants should post a description of what the object/creature is and where it can be found. This can be a few sentences on a new page, but it should serve to give other participants an easy reference to your creations. Please see the Actions page for more information on these and how to use them. *'Cantrip': A low-level effect that does not require PP. These tend to be minor versions of other actions or more regular actions that have a very temporary effect. *'Nourish': A god causes a particular area, people group, or other thing to prosper. *'Command': A god issues divine instructions to a people group or the world at large. *'Mold': A god creates or alters raw matter, forming clumps of land, mountains, rivers, or seas. Has two different levels. *'Harm': A god causes disaster to befall a region, people group, or other such thing. *'Spawn': A god creates monsters to populate the world. These may include some intelligent races that are fundamentally incapable of forming a complex civilization. *'Beget':A god creates a new divine being (either another god or an exarch). *'Forge': A god creates an object or concept of divine essence, such as an artifact or a domain. *'Shape': A god creates an intelligent race of creatures capable of developing a complex civilization. *'Craft': A god crafts something that is part divine-- part mundane, such as a plane or an avatar. *'Alter': A god changes one thing into another. This has a variable PP cost that is dependant on what the final product is. Planes Planes are entire realms of existence. The universe that we live in, here in the real world, would count as a single plane. In Lords of Creation, planes might be entire universes, or small alcoves of existence. These places might overlap over "planes" and be separated only by imagination. In D&D, the Astral Sea and the Elemental Chaos are two such planes. Avatars Avatars are bits of a god's power that have been bound more tightly to the mundane world. They are capable of interacting with mortals, they can be in different locations than their respective gods, but binding one's self to the world in such a manner is not without risk, as Avatars can be captured and destroyed. Exarches and Artifacts An exarch is a divine servant; these creatures are created by a god (or gods) and are controlled by that god's player. These entities are different than the gods (unlike Avatars which are just specific manifestations of a god) and as such can behave in manners that might not be totally inline with a god's wishes. These entities can also serve as ambassadors to mortals. The gods are capable of creating tools of great power, called artifacts. These tools can have mystical effects not found elsewhere in nature. An artifact might prevent certain beings from entering an area, or it might summon a perpetual storm. Artifacts may also be created by gods to specifically guide the fates of mortals. In certain cases, Artifacts and Exarchs can provide bonus PP for a project. See the Artifacts and Exarches page for more information. Heroes Heroes are mortal beings that a participant in LoC might create and control. Heroes may not actually be "heroes" in the formal sense; they may be villains or mundane shopkeepers. Hero refers to the fact that these are mortals are of great enough importance so as to have repeated mention in the game. Populace A populace is specifically a group of intelligent beings that are capable of developing a complex culture. Not all intelligent beings count as a populace; the development of a civilization is key. Another term that might be thrown around is "race," which is largely synonymous with "populace." However, while those two terms might refer to an entire species, a "nation" refers to a specific group. This might be a subset of a race, or it might be a combination of several races. Forexample, if the Greeks were called a populace, then Athens would be a nation. Original State At the start of the game there is nothing in existence. Land, water, and even air has to be created by the gods. Likewise, when these things are created, they are barren-- life has to be brought by the gods, and even when intelligent life arises, they have to be taught by the gods. When a populace is first created, it only knows a few basic concepts for surviving as a hunter-gatherer society. Nourish, harm, and command actions are used to help a society develop. While technically a populace could leap from a hunter-gatherer society to a high medieval one without a problem, this skips the all-important cultural development aspect and is frowned upon unless done for a specific reason. Conflict At times, gods and mortals come into conflict. Such conflicts are best discussed out of game. More information can be found on the Combat page. Unfortunately, at times participants come into conflict with each other. There are no particular rules for that, though the Guidelines should be followed and the matter should be resolved outside of the game. Category:Rules